Improvement in revolving-breech pistols



".I. STEVENS.

Revolver.

.lx W

Patented Oct. 7, '1851.

l 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

I 2 SBeets-Sheet 2 J. STEVENS.

Revolver.

No. 8,412. Patented oct. Vlam.

N FETERS. PHOm-LITHQGRAFHER. WASHINGTON D c UNITED STATES JOSHUA STEVENS, OF CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS CHUSETTS ARMS COMPANY.

PATENT Garten.

lIlVlPllOVEli/IENT IN REVOLVING-BREECH PISTOLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent'No. 8,412, dated' October 7, 1851.

gitudinal and central section ot'it. Fig. etislan under side view ofit. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of it, taken through the latch-hook, to which reference will be hereinafter had.

In the said drawings, A represents the barrel; B, the chambered cylinder; C, the arbor on which said cylinder is supported,and on which itis made to revolve. D is the stock, from which the arbor projects.

Asithe lock, as well as the mrchanism for revolving the chambered cylinder, forms no part` .of my presentinvention,it will not be necessary for me to enter into 'any description of them.

The barrel A is connected to the stock by means of a bar or piece of metal, E, which is hinged orjointed at one end to the stock,while at its other eudit is fastened firmly ,to the barrel. The hinge or joint a of the part E is so 4made as to enable the. said part E and the barrel lto be turned up into the position denoted at b by the dotted lilies in Fig. 1.

For forcing the balls into the chambers I employ a ram mer, F, and a lever, G. The raminer has a cylindricalshape externally, and'is snppqrted by and made toslide freely in a longitudinal directionlv through a latch hook, H, which swivels onturns upon the barrel A and hooks around the arbor C.

0n and around the barrel, and coucentrically with it, is a swivel-tube, I, which turns loosely on the barrel, and is kept in position by shoulders c d, or other analogous contrivauccs at its extremities. From this swivel-tube the latchhook H projects, as seen in the drawings. The fnlcrum end of the lever G is jointed or hinged to this swivel-tube, and by means of a projection, e, tlierefrom,.tl1e lever embracing the projection, and turning on a pin', f, extending through it and the projection. An upper side view of this lever is seen in Fig. 6. The said lever is formed or made with two dat cheeks, y h, arranged parallel to one another, and with a space, t', between them wide enough t-o receive the rammer F, as seen in the drawings, and to allow ,it to workA through the lever whilothelever is 'being turned down toward a right an gie with the barrel. The rainrner has aprojection, la, formed on one or both sides of it, and to operate in connection with a rounded corner or earn, l, made on the adjacent cheek ofthe lever. Above this cam thc lever is provided with a square or other proper-shaped shoulder, m, which stands at, or about at, right angles to the outer edge, met the cheek, and with respect to the fnlcruxn ofthelever, as seen inthe drawings.

Therammer is made hollow, and to contain a helical spring, o, one-end ot' which bears against a head or plug, p, inserted in the outer end of the remmer. The other end of the spring rests against'a screw-pin, q,whicl1 passes through the latch-booleand the rainmer, and long slots lr s made through thelatter, asseen in the drawings. That end ofthe rammer which is nearest to the chainbered cylinder B may be made solid, and with a sunken cavity or space, t', for theball to project in when forced into the chamber destined to receive it. In order to' steady the barrel in lateral directions, it has a tenen, fu., extended from it and made to enter a corresponding mortise, r, made down through that part of the arborlwhich projects beyond the -the arboris provided with a small th nml) springcatch, w, to catch into the latch hook and prevent it from slipping od' thearbor when it is turned downto its'lowest position. Neither the thumb-catch nor the hook is a new c'ontrivance, and so far vas they are concernedthey may he said to differ from my present improvement, 4 h y There is a small projection, y, formed on the side of the head or outer end ot' the remmer, whichl projection extends over a curved cam, z, formed on the inner surface of the cheeks of the lever, as seen in Figs. 6 and 7, which are alongtudi'nal and vertical section of the lever.

This cam should be so made as to enable a per AssreNon To Massa.

chambered cylinder B. Besides the above,

' of the lever,

the addition to it of the shoulder for the projection on the rammer to bear against, the lever is forced and heldup against the 'barrel while not being used to cause a movement of the rammel'. Besides the power of the spring acting to expel lthe rammel" from the chamber of the cylinder, there is a selfadj usting power or mechanism brought into operation to further move the remmer and lever and hold the lever up against the barrel. This new element or part of the: mechanism dispenses withI any spring-catch', as usually applied and used on the extreme outer end of the lever, and madeto act against a stud or projection from the barrel. V

By combining boththe lever and the latch j hook or support of the rammer with the barrel by means of a single swivel-tube or anyanalo gous contrivance not only the latch-hook but' and particularly in conseqence of therammer 'may ber moved out ofthe way of the arbor in such manner as to enable the barrel to be elevated into the position denotedby dotted lines in Fig. 1, and so as to render iteasy to remove the chambered cylinder from the ar# bor.

I do not claim tomake the latclilhook alone revolve on the barrel; but I claim;- l

The improvement ofso connecting or combining the latch-hook, the slide-bearing ofthe rammer, and the lever with the barrel by means of the swivel-tube or any analogous contri-v 'vance as to enable them to be allsimnltaneously turned laterally orrevolved around the axis of the barrel, and thereby remove any obstruction to the elevation or upward movementof thebarrel, such asmay be necessaryin orderto eect the removal ofthe cylinder ofcharging-'ch'ambers from the arbor on which it is supported.

In testimony whereof TI have hereto set my vsignature this 25th day of June-,A. D. 1851.

JOSHUA STEVENS. v Witnesses:

E. V. B. HoLooMB, F. W. CARTER. 

